So, for the USA, in the quarter Apple made $0.42 of profit per person per day. That’s $41.72 of profit in the quarter for every man, woman, and child in the USA. At an annualized rate, that’s $155 per person per year.

Accounting for all the people in the world, Apple made $0.019 (1.9 cents) of profit per person per day. That’s $1.87 of profit in the quarter for every person on Earth. At an annualized rate, that’s $6.94 in profit for every human being on the planet.

Of course, not everyone in the US is an Apple customer, much less the world. And, these estimates don’t break down Apple’s US vs. Global income. Still, it’s an interesting way to put such a large profit figure in perspective.

Perhaps one reason for Apple’s chronically depressed price/earnings ratio compared to other companies with similar growth metrics is that there’s only so much disposable income in the world, and at Apple’s current size and growth rates, they’ll start to run into fundamental economic limits, like a giant sucking all the air out of a sealed room.

Apple's average quarterly p/e ratio, courtesy of Bullish Cross. Click for more analysis.

Maybe. But my money is still on the theory that the investing world still doesn’t get Apple — it can’t understand how superior products can continue to beat the copycats, and, more to the point, it can’t actually recognize superior products. Customers, however, seem to be able to recognize them just fine.

About the Author

Jonathon Wolfe is Lead Designer at TechValidate. He leads all aspects of TechValidate product design, functionality, and user experience. You can follow Jon on Twitter at @tv_jon.